Sermons

Sat. Dec. 24, 2016: St. Peter’s 1: the people have seen a great light Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14: the grace of God has appeared Luke 2:1-14(15-20) Psalm 96 lectionary History of Christmas: How is it that we find ourselves in the night-time of the year, celebrating the nativity of Jesus? How it got to be Dec. 25th At the founding of our country – very little attention paid by the Puritans. (One of the scandals of the “Anglicans” was their observance of Christmas Much of what we observe today a product of the commercial and business interests of the 19 th / 20 th century Each of us here tonight carries memories of our local and family traditions. ( I asked a clerk at Publix the other day whether she was going to be spending time with little family or big family – she immediately knew what I was talking about. Her big family is in Georgia and they hoped to get there next month, but this weekend it is a quiet time together with the local family. ) by the 4 th c. a cluster o...

Sun, Dec 18, 2016: St. Peter’s Sermon Fourth Advent The strange circumstances of King Ahaz Bible Study and lectionary In our reading from Isaiah this week, God responds with as it were a sigh of exasperation at King Ahaz who says in a voice of mock piety, "Nah, I don’t need a sign from you. I’m doing just fine. To which God (the Lord) says, “Well, I’m going to give you one anyway. A young woman is with child. And his name will be Immanuel.” That’s not particularly remarkable we can observe, except perhaps the name which means “God is with you.” But then if we add some of the back story to the short reading it all just seems even weirder – at least to me. You see Ahaz is being attacked from an alliance of the northern kingdom and Syria (“2 kings” from the reading). God has promised to rescue King Ahaz from the predicament. But Ahaz thinks he can do just fine without God’s help so he makes the response we have heard today. The text as we all know was used by the writers of...

Sermon Third Advent: Dec. 11, 2016 lectionary a highway there (Isaiah some more) ransomed of the LORD break out in song possible use of Magnificat James “be patient” til the coming of the Lord John the Baptist – see I’m sending my messenger ahead to prepare the way In previous Sundays I focused on the readings from the prophet Isaiah in an attempt to hear an Advent message in a fresh light. Isaiah has looked out at his own country and seen a leadership made impotent by rampant injustice and a failure to reflect the deeper values of the people of Israel. In spite of expecting destruction from the legacy of these leadership problems, Isaiah brings a message from God that inspires hope and expectation in a time to come. Advent is a time of preparation for a time to come. In the Orthodox church it is a period of self-reflection and self-examination that lasts 40 days – mirroring the time of preparation in Lent. It is a time to be taken seriously. Perhaps it is a time to take t...

Sun, Dec 4, 2016: St. Peter’s Sermon second Advent: lectionary Last week I announced that I intended to preach on the Isaiah passage each of these weeks through Advent. Week by week we will hear from the prophet Isaiah. Each of the passages is famously associated with Christmas – going back centuries. A great danger for us, I believe, is to become more and more immune to hearing the true power of the message. My hope is to help in hearing the message of the gospel. Today we hear from (ch. 11 of Isaiah) – stump of Jesse – the peaceable kingdom, the wolf and the lamb lie down together. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you (Rom) Rom refers to Isaiah John the Baptist appears Broad influence of Isaiah When we listen to Handel’s Messiah passage after passage is taken from the prophet. It has been called “the Fifth Gospel”, and its influence extends beyond Christianity to English literature and to Western culture itself. gathering of commentaries: (mo...

Advent 1: Nov. 27, 2016 St. Peter’s, Great Falls Lectionary Listen to a portion of our first reading today: excerpt Isaiah ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ … they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! Our second reading invites us to “wake from our sleep” – to be alert to God’s work around us and the Gospel urges us to prepared for the “Son of man coming at an unexpected hour” 4 Sundays hearing from Isaiah: What I plan to do for the next 4 weeks is to prepare for Christmas through Advent by listening to the prophet Isaiah. This week: Mountain of the Lord, swords into plowshares Next week: a shoot shall come forth from the stump of Jesse 3rd week: make stra...

Church Sun, Nov 20, 2016 St. Paul's lectionary make us good stewards provide for us a wandering Aramean was my ancestor rejoice in the Lord always whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. I am the bread of life What we "ought" to do At a young age I remember being taught that I ought to be grateful -- for any number of things. I ought to write thank you notes. I ought to appreciate all that my parents -- or teachers -- or ?? did for me. For the most part I don't think it worked very well. On the other hand, I am curious to figure out when did I learn actually become grateful ? At what point did I exercise gratitude? Being grateful It had to be connected with receiving a gift and knowing that I didn't somehow deserve it. Had earned it or it belonged to me. When I g...

Church Sun, Nov 13, 2016: St. Paul’s lectionary Holy Scripture written for us I shall build a new Heavens – focus on Jerusalem – no more the sound of weeping the wolf and the lamb shall lie down together the stones of the temple thrown down – when you hear of wars and resurrection – nation will rise against nation they will arrest you The Bible and the Times “This past week has been an emotional and turbulent one for many people in our nation.” We had an election last week. … you probably noticed. Perhaps the greatest 20^th^ c. theologians, Karl Barth, said that sermons should be written with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. He came to that conclusion after watching his German Evangelical Church first support the Kaiser in his war-making effort in the 1^st^ World War and then much more alarmingly support the rise of Adolph Hitler. The events of the past week require me to look at the Bible and the newspaper at the same time....

Nov. 6 (All Saints Sunday) lectionary Haggai – Thessalonians Again we hear from a prophet whose name comes with many different pronunciations. My teacher enforcing the British pronunciation made us say “Hay’-gay-ai”. As I previewed the passage last week, I smiled because it was a perfect example text for my Old Testament class. The timing was perfect – In the second year of King Darius ,… . The prophet looks back at a nation, a religious faith, a way of life, an extended family – that had been utterly destroyed. He looks and sees a time to come: “Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts.” Remembering the past glory, promising a coming splendor and glory Second coming, delay of parousia Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” Hag...

Introductory Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Parable Once again we...